The present invention is generally directed to brushes for bathing and more particularly to wall mounted bath brushes.
Various brushes exist for bathing the human body. A number of those brushes are wall mounted and removably attachable. One such brush assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,091 to Kiss. The brush assembly of the ""091 Patent is attachable to a wall and has a pair of spaced-apart elongated brushes mounted on a base. A hanger engages a bath or shower wall member and includes a hook for insertion within an opening in the base. Wall attachment is by suction cups on the rear side of the base with a lever provided for urging the base away from the supporting wall surface and facilitating return of the brush assembly to a stowed position. A double-sided adhesive may be used to permanently secure the base to a wall surface.
Another wall mounted bath brush and method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,165 to Westberry et al. The ""165 Patent discloses a brush for scrubbing and scratching the human body. The ""165 brush includes a plate portion having a front face and a rear face, a plurality of bristles extending from the front face, and an attachment mechanism for attaching the brush to a wall. The attachment mechanism preferably provides removable attachment to a wall, and may be a plurality of suction cups. The front face of the plate portion preferably has essentially the same surface area as an average person""s back and its outer edges of the front face optionally have the essential outline of the upper human torso. The bristles, provided in clusters, optionally have a stiffness and end roundable suitable for comfortably scratching a person""s back when dry.
Other wall attachable brushes and sponges are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,417,362; 4,020,519; 3,631,560 and 3,750,226. Apparently, for one or more reasons, the disclosed arrangements have not found wide acceptance with the public as they do not appear to be readily available in retail establishments. None of the references appear to disclose a bath brush having a central bore with a plurality of bristles extending therein.
It is an advantage of the present invention to provide a bath brush which does not require the bather to twist and contort to scrub.
It is another advantage of the present invention to provide such a bath brush which can be detachably fixed to a shower wall.
It is still another advantage of the present invention to provide such a brush that is adapted to wash an arm of a handicapped person or stroke victim who lacks the use of both arms.
It is still another advantage of the present invention to provide such a brush which is simple, durable and inexpensive to produce.
A bath brush assembly and method are provided for scrubbing an appendage, such as a limb, of a handicapped person or stroke victim. The bath brush assembly is wall-mounted and has a frame with a bore extending therethrough. A plurality of bristles are attached to the frame and extend into the bore. The frame may have various shapes and be formed of modular components. Joined to the frame are a number of suction cups which provide a detachable connection to the wall of a shower or bathtub.